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📻 IMPORTANT AUCKLAND UPDATE 📻
“I’m wrong”: O'Neill apologises for Ceolwulf comments
Connor Scanlon • August 25th, 2025 4:39 pm
John O'Neill has apologised to Ceolwulf’s trainer Joe Pride about recent comments he made about the gelding.
Just a few weeks ago, prominent owner O'Neill suggested that Ceolwulf would struggle to get close to Via Sistina this spring.
“If I trained it, it would win three Group 1s,” O’Neill told SENTrack’s Giddy Up a few weeks ago.
“It would go to the Toorak (Handicap), with plenty of weight and win. Then, I’d send it to Perth, and it would win the Railway (Stakes), and I’d win the 2000m (Australian Cup).
“(Because) he won’t get within 100 yards of Via Sistina… It’ll get lapped.
“It’s not going as good as what it was.”
Since those comments were made Ceolwulf ran excellently when finishing fourth in Saturday's Group 1 Winx Stakes (1400m), just 2.48 lengths behind winner Via Sistina.
O’Neill admitted that his opinion on Ceolwulf was incorrect but joked that his original comments would’ve guaranteed the five-year-old a successful spring.
“So, what I would like to say here is if it did go to those three Group 1s, it would win all them quite easily, so I would guarantee three Group 1s,” O’Neill joked.
“Having said that, I’m wrong.
“Because the run on the weekend (was amazing).”
Reflecting on the run, O’Neill admitted that Pride nailed Ceolwulf’s lead-up preparation.
“So, what I need to do is, I’m probably gonna buy Joe Pride a beer,” admitted O’Neill.
“What I’d like to say to Joe is, ‘Geez, it’s a good horse’.
“I will say that I think Via Sistina is clearly the best horse in the country, and we’ve said that for a couple of years.
“But Ceolwulf ran (amazingly) on the weekend, whether Ceolwulf was on the better ground out wider, I’m not sure.”
O’Neill also touched on how jockey Chad Schofield made some mistakes in the Winx Stakes, making Ceolwulf’s run even more impressive.
“I think Chad was on Ceolwulf, he sort of went to make a move and then changed his mind,” revealed O’Neill.
“I think the other (jockeys) sort of pinched some runs on the inside.
“I think (Schofield) was going to go back to the inside, and then he decided to swing wide.
“The run was huge, and if (Ceolwulf) is able to reproduce that, it’s gonna knock a lot of horses out of the way.”
Host Gareth Hall then chimed in, questioning O’Neill on whether he would back Ceolwulf in the King Charles Stakes, for which he is an equal $4.80 favourite with Sportsbet, alongside Fangirl.
“I would certainly be having something on,” O’Neill revealed.
“And I will be.”
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